


Love Blooms in the Night (Beneath the Stars)

by hibiren



Series: Jay's Faeverse AU Collection [8]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fae, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Birthday Presents, Crying, Cute, Fae & Fairies, Faerie!Ignis, Fairies, Feels, Fluff, Gift Fic, Gladnis, Late Night Conversations, Late at Night, Love, M/M, Magic, Nighttime, Presents, Sweet, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-07 20:24:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20823290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hibiren/pseuds/hibiren
Summary: [Giftfic for Recipeh_for_Success] Ignis and Gladio are stargazing one night, talking, not talking - and that's when Ignis mentions that it's his birthday. Despite his anxiousness, Gladio helps make Ignis' night so much better with a surprisingly thoughtful gift.





	Love Blooms in the Night (Beneath the Stars)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Recipeh_for_Success](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Recipeh_for_Success/gifts).

> For Recipeh_for_Success / [recipehsart](https://twitter.com/recipehsart) because I hadn't realized it was their birthday and wanted to gift them a little fae!Ignis magic as a thank you for being such a sweet, creative, awesome and inspirational fae-loving friend! Happy (late lol!) birthday!

Clusters of stars and distant constellations freckled across the dark night sky, twinkling and pulsing bright despite the occasional tendrils of clouds that floated past and obscured the horizon.

Gladio laid on his back on a large picnic quilt, spread out in front of the cottage’s back door. Iris was asleep already but despite the long day of gardenwork, Gladio just couldn’t sleep. Ignis too was restless; even though the fae hadn’t mentioned so, Gladio could tell in the way his wings shifted in the breeze. Ignis sat completely still atop Gladio’s chest, the strange expression in his eyes barely visible in the low ambient light from the cottage behind them.

“Everything alright?” asked Gladio eventually, breaking the silence that lingered in the air like the distant clouds. Ignis snapped to attention, turned back to Gladio, and rested a small palm against Gladio’s bottom lip, a tender gesture.

“...Yes, I’m fine. I’m… enjoying the view, is all.”

Gladio dropped the subject for a long minute before reaching up and brushing a finger along Ignis’ back, in the space between his wing joints. When Ignis shuddered, Gladio paused and pulled his hand away.

“I’m a… bit cold, I’m sorry,” Ignis rushed in explanation. When Gladio mentioned going back inside for a blanket, Ignis brandished his hand outward and a large, woven flowerpetal quilt appeared draping across his arm. He swiftly wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and curled up on his side against Gladio’s chest, just above his love’s heart where he could surely feel the anxious beating there beneath.

After a long while, Ignis sighed. “Today, many, many years ago… was the day of my birth. I’ve lost count of how long it’s been. Caught up in monotonous life, my responsibilities as a fae… the time I spent trapped in the city trying to find a way out, it’s such a blur to me, a time I don’t like looking back upon. I was very weak, back then, I nearly… well, I’ve… become so much stronger thanks to you, Gladiolus, and - oh, I’m rambling. Please forgive me,” he rushed, swiping his hair back and fiddling anxiously with the nosepiece of his large, round glasses.

“I didn’t know it was your birthday, Iggy,” remarked Gladio, a small smile hinting at the corners of his lips. “If I’d have known sooner, Iris and I could’ve made you a lemon cake.”

“No, please, it’s perfectly alright. This day… usually is one that brings me anxiety nonetheless. But just being here, laying with you, like this… it made a long day worth it. Thank you.”

Gladio closed his eyes and opened them after a thoughtful expression briefly flickered across his face. “Hm. Actually, there’s something I can give you, that I’ve been waiting to, for a while.”

“Please, you don’t have to - just allowing me to live here, to have you as my partner, that’s more than enough to bring me happiness,” Ignis whispered, the quilt moving against Ignis’ back as his shifting wings bumped against the fabric.

Gladio smiled a bit wider, sitting up. Ignis wrapped the blanket around his shoulders to free his wings and fluttered down to rest on the picnic quilt when Gladio stood and gestured to the cottage. “I’ll be right back. Okay? Promise you’ll stay?”

“Of course, my flower… I will stay.”

Ignis waited outside as Gladio disappeared into the house for a moment, the sounds of the cicada outside suddenly overwhelming instead of a distant whir. Farther off, Ignis caught a glimpse of the firefly lights of the nightfae, and a familiar swish of a black cloak beneath flickering golden glows in the dark space between the trees. He pretended not to notice, and was thankful when Gladio exited the cottage holding a small bundle in his hands and sat back down next to Ignis on the quilt.

“Sorry I took so long,” Gladio apologized, but Ignis just shook his head and tried not to glance with too much curiosity at the bundle in Gladio’s palm. “Here, this is for you. Happy birthday, Iggy. I hope this is okay, even if it’s not too much. I can always work on that cake tomorrow, if you’d like. It’s the thought that counts?” A soft chuckle rumbled through Gladio as he looked down to the gift, and then to Ignis.

As if holding a newly-blooming seed, Ignis carefully unwrapped the fabric and felt tears prickling the edges of his vision when he saw what was inside. A long, green gradient knitted scarf perfectly sized - and a matching deep green turtleneck sweater with neat, braided cables along the length of it laid folded neatly beneath it. Ignis carefully picked it up by the shoulders and when it unfolded, held it against his body; a perfect fit. It even had two spaces neatly worked into the back so his wings wouldn’t be crushed against the sweater and he could be free to fly while wearing it.

“I… didn’t know you could knit something so fine,” Ignis muttered, completely caught off guard by the act of kindness. The cold days were incoming, and Ignis knew he would be in for a long winter. One could say he feared the change in seasons given the shift in his powers, but he would be very unlikely to admit so himself unprompted. “This… is really for me? Thank you… thank you so much, Gladiolus… I… sincerely, thank you… so much, for this. I’ve… I’ve…”

Ignis’ shoulders trembled, but he swallowed back the tears and looked up at Gladio, whose warm smile seemed to completely dissipate the growing chill in the night. “I love you so… so much, Gladiolus. I… wish I could express it better but I’m a bit at a loss for words in the moment,” he added, a regretful smile tracing through his words. “My flower, you… you’ve really made this day something… to not be so upset about. I will cherish these gifts and wear them for as long as I can. They will be safe and well-kept, I promise you.”

“I love you too, Iggy. Always, forever, and after that, too.” Gladio smiled and leaned down to rest on his elbows, lowering his head to be eye-level with Ignis. “No matter what.”

“No matter what,” Ignis repeated, and leaned in close to trace the stubble against Gladio’s jaw with his fingertips. It was just the two of them in that moment - the cicadas, the nightfae, the gentle whisper of the wind through the leaves - everything surrounding them seemed silent except for the sounds of their hearts beating in unison.

Much later, after Gladio had returned to his cottage to sleep, Ignis laid wide awake curled up in his bed in the faehouse, running his hands over the sweater that warmed his body perfectly, as if Gladio himself were hugging him. The yarn was soft, and it even smelled of the cottage interior - of gentle musk and flowers and spices. The scarf, too, laid beneath Ignis’ head like a pillow, folded neatly. Although he’d started the day nervous - moreso when he realized what day it was - he ended it in a way he’d never imagined, surrounded by the warmth of Gladio’s energy that hummed like a gentle melody through the loft. Traces of Gladio’s thoughts and brief images of his hands at work with the knitting needles echoed as Ignis traced the stitches in the dark, the curves and the lines of the yarn like a song beneath his fingertips. Gladio really did love him, so much - and Ignis shed silent, happy tears as he bundled up further into the blankets and the sweater and the pure warmth of love in the air as if he could, just for that one night, disappear into it and forget everything else.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so glad I was able to write a little something, it's feelsy, but I had a lot of fun writing it! :D


End file.
